If you don’t believe in conspiracy theories, referee behavior in the first half of today’s Maryland game did their best to sway your thoughts.
The crew who worked the infamous Michigan v. Western Michigan game put on a show calling a staggering 18 penalties for 161 yards – with a half still left to play. Their spirit appeared to be broken, though. After Nebraska had closed things to 16-14, they responded with a horrid unsportsmanlike call and ignored an obvious targeting on Kwazi Gilmer.
On an ensuing
Maryland drive they converted two third downs for the Terrapins with defensive holding calls 30-40 yards away from the play. However, Dwayne McDougal intercepted a Malik Washington pass and returned it 81 yards for a touchdown breaking Bret Clark’s 42-year-old record for longest pick-6 in Huskers history. It also closed the gap to 23-21.
This woke the offense as Anthony Colandrea led the Huskers on an 80-yard drive in 1:44 running a play action out of the bigs formation and hitting Luke Lindenmeyer for the 28-23 halftime lead – a small miracle given the 300-195 advantage in total yards for Maryland. McDougle’s heroics plus a Jeremiah Charles blocked punt helped even out that disparity with Charles’ leap leading to a short field 19-yd TD run by Mekhi Nelson – one of his two so far.
SOME HALFTIME NUMBERS
- Safety Dwayne McDougle III had an 81-yard interception return for a touchdown in the second quarter, marking his seventh career interception and his first as a Husker.
- It marked McDougle’s second career touchdown after scoring on a fumble return for San Diego State last season.
- The 81-yard interception return for a touchdown was the first pick-six for Nebraska since Ceyair Wright at USC in 2024. It was the longest pick-six for a Husker player since Bo Ruud had a 93-yard interception for a touchdown against Iowa State in 2007.
- Nebraska defensive back Jeremiah Charles blocked a first-quarter punt to set up a Nebraska touchdown. It marked Charles’ first career blocked punt and Nebraska’s second blocked punt of the year. The Huskers also have a blocked field goal.
- Defensive end Kade Pietrzak had a second-quarter interception marking his first career interception.
- Running back Mekhi Nelson had a 19-yard touchdown run to open the scoring for Nebraska and added a 5-yard TD run in the second quarter. This is Nelson’s second two-TD game of the season after having both a rushing and receiving score against Ohio in the opener.
- Receiver Kwazi Gilmer had five first-half receptions, pushing his career total to 104 catches.
- Tight end Luke Lindenmeyer caught a 1-yard TD pass to close the first half, marking his first touchdown catch of the season and the third of his career.
